title: How peer pressure shapes consensus, leadership, and innovations in social groups.
abstract: What is the effect of the combined direct and indirect social influences--peer pressure (PP)--on a social group's collective decisions? We present a model that captures PP as a function of the socio-cultural distance between individuals in a social group. Using this model and empirical data from 15 real-world social networks we found that the PP level determines how fast a social group reaches consensus. More importantly, the levels of PP determine the leaders who can achieve full control of their social groups. PP can overcome barriers imposed upon a consensus by the existence of tightly connected communities with local leaders or the existence of leaders with poor cohesiveness of opinions. A moderate level of PP is also necessary to explain the rate at which innovations diffuse through a variety of social groups.
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Mathematics & Statistics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1XH, UK [2] Institute for Quantitative Theory and Methods (QuanTM), Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
authors.forename: Ernesto
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Estrada
authors.forename: Eusebio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vargas-Estrada
mesh_terms: D032921:Consensus; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010379:Peer Group; D012919:Social Behavior; D013315:Stress, Psychological